RALEIGH, North Carolina — A senior at a Raleigh high school now has a rare, first-hand account of the life-saving power of this drug. naloxone.
A Leesville A Road High School student was heading to downtown Raleigh to run errands when she saw something on the side of the road.
Victoria Taton ended up saving a man from a dire situation.
Taton was driving near the Crabtree Valley Mall, running errands during the busy afternoon rush hour, when she saw two young men in the distance. One of them was lying on the ground. She trusted her instincts, waited for the red light and approached them.
“I asked them, what’s going on?” she says. “I kept my distance. He tells me his friend is on the ground and unresponsive. And he’s not sure what’s going on. But he thinks it might be an overdose of saw the symptoms he was seeing.”
Taton ran to put the Narcan in her car – ran back and administered it to the stranger. It worked.
“It takes between 30 seconds and two minutes to work,” Taton said. “In about 30 to 60 seconds, still with the SAMU on the phone, he comes out of the state of response he was in. He vomits. He enters and loses consciousness. The SAMU tells us.”
The authorities continue to fight against the prejudices surrounding naloxone, known by its brand Narcan. But more and more people are wearing naloxone kits to ensure their safety and that of their peers. Taton said she had been carrying it with her for two years.
“I just felt like it was a really good thing to wear,” Taton said. “You really don’t know anymore. Especially with kids our age, going to college soon, you just don’t know. I just thought it was safer to wear it from then on. “
His instincts were right. Taton hopes her experience will motivate others to consider carrying Narcan.
“They said he would most likely pull through because we did the right thing,” Taton said. “If we weren’t there, he probably would have died. We didn’t know exactly what he took, but because we acted quickly, yes.”
News Source : www.wral.com
Gn Health
